This invention relates to disposal of contaminated items, and in particular to a disposal container for use in a hospital or similar environment where contaminated items must be collected and disposed of without creating a hazard for patients or hospital personnel.
In hospitals, clinics and similar medical institutions, contamination is of utmost concern. With the prevention of the spread of communicable diseases being a major priority, disposable, single use patient-care products have become quite prevelant. Those items which can readily transmit disease, such as hypodermic needles and other sharps, are required to be disposed of at their use site under current guidelines of the United States Center For Disease Control. In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 934,413, filed Nov. 24, 1986, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, one form of a sharps disposal system is described. The present invention is an improvement over the system of the referenced application, and is directed to a revised form of container which remains secure and yet readily-accessible to the health care practitioner.